How does the geographical setting of Buddenbrooks influence the events of the novel? Discuss how Lübeck’s proximity to the sea inspires the family’s merchant past and their social milieu. How does Mann use the motif of the sea to support the novel’s central themes?

How are the personalities of the Buddenbrooks children shaped by the business and social context in which they grow up? Analyze the cases of Christian and Hanno in contrast with those of Tony and Tom. How are the Buddenbrook siblings influenced by their grandfather’s notion of Family Members as Links in a Chain?

What distinctions does Mann make in the text between the upper class that the Buddenbrooks belong to and the aristocracy? Does he depict the Buddenbrooks as part of the bourgeoisie of the time? Refer to the speech of Morten Schwarzkopf in Part 3, Chapter 8, where he considers himself to be part of the new bourgeoisie as you construct your argument.